Shivaji Maharaj statue incident: MVA leaders gather at Hutatma Chowk, will hold protest march till Gateway of India

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders at Hutatma Chowk in Mumbai, on Sunday, September 1.

The Mumbai Police have tightened security across the city amid opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) call for a protest march against the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Sindhudurg district. Leaders from MVA, which comprises the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Congress, began gathering at Hutatma Chowk on Sunday, September 1, around 10 am to hold a protest march till the Gateway of India.

The protest comes in the wake of the collapse of a 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg district on August 26. The statue, which was unveiled in December 2023 as part of the Navy Day celebrations, has become a focal point of controversy. The statue collapse has triggered widespread criticism from the Opposition.

On Sunday, Shiv Sena (UBT) Member of Parliament Arvind Sawant, who was one of the MVA leaders at Hutatma Chowk, said, "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is like God for us. His statue collapsed, and with that, our devotion, honour, and self-respect also collapsed. [Party chief] Uddhav Thackeray has said that is an insult to Maharashtra. We are being stopped in our own Maharashtra by our own police [for the protest march]. I have never seen such helpless police."

He also criticised PM Modi and said that his apology was a political statement. "What if they did [apologise]? See the timing. Isn't the statement political? PM always makes political statements. Had he felt any sympathy, he would have gone to Manipur. The Central Government's policy is to disrespect Maharashtra. This is not a political agitation. It is for the honour of Mahrashtra, which has been insulted," the lawmaker further said.

During his visit to Mumbai on Friday, PM Modi had stated, "Those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologise to them. Our values are different. For us, nothing is bigger than our deity."

'MVA never respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj'

Reacting to the protest, state Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavais on Sunday said that the agitation is completely political and neither MVA nor the Congress respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

"This agitation is completely political. Be it MVA or Congress party, they never respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. (Former PM Jawaharlal Nehru who was from the Congress) Nehru ji insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in (his book) The Discovery of India. Will Congress and MVA apologise for it? In Madhya Pradesh, the then CM Kamal Nath demolished the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with a bulldozer. Even years after independence, the same Congress taught us that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj looted Surat. He never looted Surat. People of Surat constructed a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj there. Will Congress apologise for it?" the Maharashtra Deputy CM said, questioning the opposition.

BJP workers have now started a counter-protest in Dadar against the leaders of MVA.

NCP lawmaker and general secretary Sunil Tatkare said that it is inappropriate for MVA to politicise the incident. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP is one of the ruling alliance partners in the state.

"It is unfortunate that the incident took place, but MVA is politicising this. It is inappropriate. The Prime Minister, Chief Minister and both Deputy Chief Ministers have apologised. So I don't think it is right to politicise it," Tatkare said.

Probe over statue collapse on

Meanwhile, Chetan Patil, the structural consultant responsible for the statue, was arrested in Kolhapur after a first information report was registered against him under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has assured citizens that the state government is taking decisions on a "war footing" to reconstruct the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Two committees have been established for the purpose, of which one is tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the statue's collapse.

The Indian Navy said that a joint technical committee, led by the Navy and including representatives from the Maharashtra Government and technical experts, is being formed to investigate the damage to the statue at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg. The collapse is believed to have been caused by exceptional weather conditions in the region.

(With ANI inputs)